Last Tuesday Evening Hike 2017: Waterfront Trail West and Dish to Pass Dinner

Event/Trailhead location: From Rt 13 in downtown Ithaca, go west on NYS 79 across the flood control channel bridge and turn left onto Floral Avenue. In 0.3 mile, park�at the southern parking lot on the waterfront trail�(click for map).

Many of us love to be out in the woods but have trouble making time for long rigorous hikes. A nice hike for a few hours in the evening is called for. We call them the Tuesday Evening Hikes.

Tonight is the last Tuesday Evening Hike for 2017. For the last 40 weeks we were out for two or three hours almost every Tuesday evening for a quiet walk with friends in the woods. With deer season and shorter days upon us, we'll take a break after tonight. To celebrate, we'll have a dish-to-pass following the hike.

We will finish the hiking season where we started it on the western half of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, along with about a half mile through the old dog park near Treman Marina. The view up the lake around sunset is usually pretty good, possibly ten miles or more. We start and end at the southernmost parking area along the Flood Control Channel on Floral Avenue, making this and "out and back" hike.

Dress in layers according to the weather, bring water and wear sturdy boots.

If you need help with navigation, email Gary.

The Waterfront Trail is a joint effort of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative, the City of Ithaca, and the Chamber of Commerce. Cayuga Trails Club has contributed a brick and a bench towards the completion of this wonderful community asset, which gives everyone access to the Cayuga Lake waterfront.

This ends the fourth year of our Tuesday Evening Hikes, a series of moderate weekly hikes of three to six miles. The topography has varied from the dead flat of the Black Diamond Trail to a 700 foot change in elevation on the FLT in Texas Hollow. Along the way, the group shared our interest in features of the landscape, interesting avian life and flora, and so we occasionally stopped briefly to admire what the trail had to offer. But they weren't all easy nature hikes. The focus is a pace that provides the benefits of moderate exercise, fresh air, conversation, and an opportunity to get the heart pumping at the end of the day. On some nights following the hike we shared ice cream or a cup of tea at a local bistro.

Hikers frequently discovered new sections of trail they hadn't previously hiked in natural areas they hadn't visited prior to this series. Most important, these hikes offered us the opportunity to create new hiking friendships, an enduring gift that surpasses all the other benefits of being out in the woods for a nice hike for a few hours every week.